Valve and actuating means



G. A. TUCK. VALVE AND ACTUATING MEANS. APPLICATION FILED APII.4, IszI.

Patenied Nov. 22 922.

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Patented Nov. 7, 1922.

UNITED STATES GEORGE ALBERT TUCK, OF SAN FRANCSCO, CALIFORNIA.

VALVE AND ACTUATING MEANS.

Application led April 4, 1921.

To all whom. t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE ALBERT TUCK, a citizen of the Unitedv States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Valves and Actuating Means; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved valve and actuating means and one object ot the invention is to provide a valve of the double seat type having the stem movable to bring the head into and out of engagement with the valve seat so that the valve may be closed or left open and prevented from leaking around the stem when in an open position.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved operating means tor thI` valve. this means being so constructed that the valve may be rqiven initial movement by electricallv operated means, and movement ot the valve to an adjusted position completed b v spring operated means servinpV not onljv to pgive the additional movement to the valve stern ybut also serving to retain the stem in the adjusted position.

Another object of the invention is .to so construct this operating means as to include a plunger which is connected with the valve stein and extends through solenoids and is provided with a section forming an armature for the solenoids and also carries sections for bridging space between spaced contact elements of the solenoids. the circuit closing` elements of the plunger beint spaced apart a sufficient distance to permit one to be in an operative or circuit closingm position with the second in an inoperative position. v

Another object of the invention is to so construct this valve operating device that a three-wire svstem may be used 'for selectively energizing the solenoids. the circuit through the energized solenoids beingf broken and the space between the spaced contacts of the second solenoid bridged so that the second solenoid will be ready for operation after 'the valve has been moved to an adjusted position.

Another object ot the invention is to so conStruCt the device that the spring open Serial No. 458,268.

ated means for moving the plunger and holdingr the same in an adjusted position will be very effective in operation and will prevent the plunger from accidentally moving out ot the adjusted position.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through the valve and operating means.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 2-#2 of Fie, i.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showingr the wiring of the solenoids in dialgrain.

This valve operatingmeans is used in connection with a valve having a body 1 open at its ends and provided with a partition 2 having a valve seat 3 for engagement. bv the head 4 of the valve when in a closed position. This head vis carried by a stein (i and when in an open position seats in the valve seat 7 at the lower end ot' the passage through the neck 8 of the body that a tight closure will be provided aboip; the stem and thus leakage prevented througgji the neck about the stem.

The operating means is provided with cjvlindricai casing 9 having' a cap 10 at its upper emi` and a head 11 at its lower end., the head 1i i 3 ot' the valve uodv and provided with an opening so that the valve stem 6 may extend up into the casing. Within the casing tiere has heen provided partitions 12, 13, Li an l5 which are formed of fibre or ans1 other suitable insulatingr material. the partitions 13 and 14 being; provided with openings so that the metal tube 16 may be mounted to entend longitudinally of the casino between the partitions 13 and 14. ThiL a core for the solenoids 1"? and and these partitions carrv spaced coi ct strips 19, Q0. 2i and 22. c .Jon of Fig.

te `vvire circuit 3, it will ne seen A soienoids and is used in conn`r A. n includes a battei diving a 'wire 24. leadinf; therefrom s :d connected with movable switch eiement which niav if brought into engagement ivitn the `terminal intact points 26 and il? carried by' the line wires 28 and 29. The wire entends into the casing ti'ie partition 12 is connected 'ag connected with the neck nbs 'provides i' and is connected with the contact strip 22. A line wire 30 leads from the battery'into the casing and after being passed through the partition 12 is carried through the partition 13 and connected with the windings of the two solenoids 17 and 18, the opposite terminal of the solenoids being connected with the contact strips 19 and 21. It will thus be seen that by means of this wiring, one solenoid may be energized without the second being energized.

A plunger 31 which is formed of libre or some other suitable insulating material is slidably mounted for vmovement long'tudinally in the casing and extends throughthe tube 16 and through openings formed in the partitions 12 and 1 5 and has its lower end portion connected with the valve stem 6 by means of a. coupling 32. 'llhe lower portion of the casing is provided with openings 33 so that readyv access may be had to the coupling in order to permit of adjustment. This plunger is provided with an elongated metal sleeve 34- which is positioned in the tube- 16 intermediate the length of the same and will constitute an armature for the two solenoids thus permitting the plunger to be moved longitudinally when either of the solenoids has been energized. Smaller sleeves 35 and 36 which are also formed of brass or other suitable metal are carried by the plunger and provide circuit closing means or elements for fitting between the spaced contact elements of the solenoids and thus permitting current to pass to the solenoids, ltshould be noted that the distance between the circuit closing elements 35 and 36 is greater than the distance between the dontact elements carried by the partition 13 and the contact elements carried by the partition la. Therefore, if the circuit closng element 35 is in an operative position between the contact strips 19 and 20, the circuit closing element 36 will be positioned beneath and out of engagement with the contact strips 21 and 22. ln the same way, if the sleeve 36 is bridging the space between the contacts 21 and 22, the sleeve 35 will be positioned above the contact strips 19 and 20.

When this device is in use, it is desired to have the plunger given initial movement by one of the solenoids and the movement continued by spring operated means which in addition to completing movement of the plunger will serve as means to releasably hold the plunger in an adjusted position. Therefore, the partition 12 has been provided with standards 37 between which the plunger passes. Lever arms 38 are pivotally connected with the standards 37 upon pins 39. Pins 40 are provided at the outer ends of the levers and adjacent their inner ends, the levers have been provided with longitudinally extending slots d1 to receive the end portions of a pin 42 carried by the pluninsana? ger. Springs 43 are connected with the4 end portions of the pins 40 and will normally serve to draw the outer end portions of the levers inwardly or in other words toward each other. rTherefore, when the device is in use and the switch arm 25 moves to energize one of the solenoids, the solenoids will act through the armature 34 to draw the plunger longitudinally and in doing so, the levers will be swung upon their pivots until they pass a dead center. During this movement, the springs will be stretched by movement of the levers. After passng the dead centers, the springs will act upon the levers, to draw the outer end portions thereof toward each other and the plunger will be given additional longitudinal movement through the action of the springs and levers to such an lextent that the valve will be moved to either an open or a closed position and the circuit closing element for the energized solenoid moved to an operative position and the circuit closin element for the solenoid which is not energized moved to an operative position. The spring will retain the plunger valve in the adjusted position., By this means, the passage of current through the solenoid which was originally energized will be cut 0H3 and waste of current prevented and further the solenoids prevented from being worn out by becoming overheated. When it is desired to change the position of the valve and return it to the original position, it is simply necessary to swing the switch arm 25 to engage the second contact and the second solenoid will be energized thus repeating the operation as already described above. lt will thus be seen that there has been provided a valve operating device which is very effective in operation and includes electrically energized means and also spring operated means completing movement started by the electrically operated means and further serving to releasably but securely hold the valve in an adjusted position.

ll claim:

1. The combination with a valve including a sliding stem, of operating means comprising a casing, a plunger slidable longitudinally in the casing and releasably connected with the valve stem, electrically operated means in the casing for moving the plunger when energized and including spaced contacts, circuit closing means carried by the plunger in spaced relation to each other :for engaging the spaced contacts with one of the circuit closing means in an operative position when the other is in an inoperative position, and other means for moving the plunger longitudinally and holding the plunger in a set position with an energized circuit broken after the electrically operated means has been energized to impart initial movement to the plunger- 2. The combination with a valve including a sliding stem, of opera-tin means comprlsing a casmg, superlmpose solenoids 1n the casing each having spaced' contacts, al

parting additional movement to the plunger and Iretaining the same in an adjusted position with the circuitclosing element for the solenoid energized and giving initial' movement to the plunger in an inoperativeA position. l"

3. The combination with a lvalve including a slidingstem, of operating means comprising a casing, superimposed solenoids in said casing, a plunger slidable insaid casing through the solenoids and formed of insulating material and connected with the valve stem, a collar carried by the plunger and forming an armature for the solenoids, spaced contacts above and below the solenoids forming elements of a circuit for selectively energizing the solenoids, circuit closing elements carried by the plunger andk spaced a distance to place one element in engagement with its spaced contacts when the second element is out of engagement with its spaced contacts, and spring operated means for moving the plunger longitudinally after initial movement thereof by one of the solenoids, movement of the plunger moving the circuit closing element from between the spaced contacts of the energizedl solenoid.

4. The combination with a valve including a sliding stem, of operating means for the valve comprising a casing, partitions of insulating material 1n the caslng, a tube carried by the partitions andlextending longitudinally of the casing between the partitions and formin a solenoid core, a plunger slidable longitu inally of the casing and passing through the tube and having one end portion connected with the valve stem, an

element carried by the plunger within the tube and constituting an armature, solenoid windings upon the tube between the partitions to provide superimposed solenoids, a circuit for the solenoids including contact strips carried by Aeach partition, and circuit closin elementscarried by the plunger for exten ing between and bridging the space between the spaced contact elements of the partitions, and spring operated means having connection with the plunger for imparting movement to the same and hold the plunger inan adjusted position with the vcircuit closing element for one set of spaced contacts in an operative position and the circuit closing element for the second set of spaced contacts in an inoperative position.

5. The combination with a valve including a sliding stem, -of operating means including a casing, a plunger slidably-mounted y in the casing and having connection with the valve stem, electrically operated means for initially moving the stem to adjust the valve, and spring actuated means' for completing movement of the stem and rendering the electrically operated means inoperative, said spring actuated means comprising levers pivotally mountedl upon opposite sides of said plunger and having their inner end portions slidably and pivotally connected with the plunger, and spring means connected lwith the outer end portions of thelevers to normally draw the outer end portions of the levers toward each other. A In testimony'whereof I have hereunto se m hand.

y -(SrEORGrE ALBERT TUCK. 

